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Figure 1. Map showing the location of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration survey H12298 offshore of Fishers Island, New York.

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is studying areas of the sea floor along the northeast coast of the United States. Bathymetric and sidescan-sonar data (collected by NOAA to update hydrographic charts) are used with sediment and bottom-photography data (collected by USGS to verify the acoustic data) in order to interpret sea-floor features and describe sediment texture and sedimentary environments. This study covers a 114-square-kilometer area in western Block Island Sound, southeast of Fishers Island, New York (fig. 1). In 2011, NOAA collected multibeam-echosounder (MBES) and sidescan-sonar data during survey H12298. In June 2013, the USGS collected sediment samples, bottom video, and still photographs at 36 stations in the study area. The purposes of this report are (1) to release the MBES, sidescan-sonar, sediment, and photographic data collected in this area of western Block Island Sound and (2) to interpret and delineate the sea-floor features and sedimentary environments within the study area. This information provides base maps for future studies such as those on benthic ecology and resource management.